Sports Illustrated staff photographer and SportsShooter.com member Peter Read Miller needs no introduction. Sports photographers and fans of great photography everywhere already know his name. Shooting for Sports Illustrated for over 20 years, Miller is best known for his football pictures.

Miller has also been a long-time Canon shooter, so it is no surprise that many photographers have been asking him about the new Canon Mark IV on the sidelines at recent NFL games. Peter had a chance to test some pre-production Mark IV cameras in December of 2009 and has been shooting with production models since photographing the Rose Bowl on January 1, 2010.

"I have been shooting the Mark IV for over a month now and I have been thrilled with the results," said Miller when asked how he liked shooting with Canon’s new flagship professional camera.

Miller is a pretty low-tech guy when it comes to using a new camera like the Mark IV, but he has tried many different settings with his new cameras to come up with a system that works well for him.

"A number of people have asked me what custom functions I am using. The settings presented here (see below) have worked very well for me shooting football. Of course everyone’s shooting style is different, but at least you can give these a try as a starting point," said Miller.

"I shoot RAW only so I pretty much ignore many of the settings that pertain to image quality for JPEGs."

One of the big questions that always comes up with photographers when a new camera like the Mark IV comes out is focusing. The Mark IV has so many different options when it comes to focusing patterns you can use, as well as custom function settings. Is it wise to use all the different focusing points? Should you move them around?

"I still use a single focusing point, but now I am much more likely to move the focusing point off center, especially when I’m shooting vertical. The Mark IV is the first camera I have felt comfortable doing this," said Miller.

"I have found the camera to combine very fast focus acquisition with very reliable tracking of the subject, something that was sort of either/or in the Mark III."

If you can't gain access to the sidelines at the upcoming Super Bowl in Miami to see Peter with his Mark IV cameras, all is not lost. His Mark IV shooting tips, and other industry secrets will be shared by Miller this coming April during his very own workshop in Denver, Colorado entitled: INTENSE MOMENTS: Photographing Sports with Peter Read Miller (see details below).

One of the other big questions that photographers ask when they see Peter on the sidelines is about the image quality that the Mark IV delivers in low light. Each time a camera manufacturer releases a new camera the image quality that the camera can deliver at high ISOs improves. Based on Miller’s experience the Mark IV is no exception as the high ISO quality has improved over the Mark III.

"High ISO looks great and our imaging department at Sports Illustrated is very happy with it. I don’t hesitate to shoot at ISO 4000 and sometimes higher with the Mark IV," said Miller.

One of the first photographs published from a Canon Mark IV file was in Sports Illustrated’s Leading Off section by Miller last month. The image was shot at the Chargers vs. Cowboys game in Dallas on December 13, 2009. It was a typically great Peter Read Miller football picture shot indoors that looked great in the magazine. You can see the vertical version of the image on the right.

"The Chargers vs. Cowboys Leading Off picture was half of a vertical frame (cropped horizontally) shot at ISO 2500. The Packers vs. Cardinals Leading Off from two weeks ago was about one quarter of the frame at ISO 2500," said Miller.

The high ISO capabilities that the new Mark IV offers Miller are so important to him this time of the year as he travels all over the country covering the NFL playoffs and Super Bowl for Sports Illustrated. Most of the games take place at night or in domed stadiums. Miller put the new cameras through a difficult test this past weekend when he shot the NFC Championship Game between the Vikings and Saints in the Louisiana Superdome. Shooting the Saints in their black uniforms inside the domed stadium in New Orleans is always difficult, but the Mark IV delivered for Miller, allowing him to shoot the game without having to worry about image quality.

Peter Read Miller's 2010 "Working With Artists" workshop will run from Monday, April 5 through Sunday, April 11 in Denver, Colorado. Workshop participants will join WWA, Peter Read Miller, Max Morse, Andrew Loehman and Grant Leighton for seven intense days of photographing Colorado's top university, high school and pro sporting events. Each photographer will have the opportunity to work closely with Miller and take home hundreds of images shot with top of the line Canon equipment that will be on loan from Canon USA.

A Canon representative will be available to assist students with printing and workflow using one of Canon's high-end wide format printers.